EA Sports Names Auburn Football Defensive Player Top-10 in League

Auburn football’s Keldric Faulk has been named as a top 10 defensive player in the league in EA Sports’ latest rankings. This news comes amidst EA’s upcoming release of EA College Football ‘26, the successor to critically acclaimed College Football ‘25.

Faulk stands at an impressive 93 overall rating (out of 99), tying Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore and Texas’s Colin Simmons. The edge rusher’s 93 rating is tied for seventh in the game among defensive players, though he’s listed last of the 93’s at ninth.

This news comes as a shock to some Auburn fans, who believed that, especially after the QB and offensive rankings were noticeably void of any Auburn players, they would not see a Tiger on the list; Faulk, however, has been a standout player for Coach Freeze and has even garnered draft attention in the past few days.

In his first mock draft of the season, ESPN’s Matt Miller projected Faulk to go thirteenth overall, which would be good for Auburn’s first first-round pick since Derrick Brown and Noah Igbinoghene in 2020.

The now-Junior was named an All-SEC freshman two seasons ago and has seemingly only improved– the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder terrorized opposing offenses last year, including notable moments such as back-to-back sacks against Cal, a forced fumble and recovery in the 2024 Iron Bowl, and earning SEC defensive player of the week honors against Kentucky.

Obviously, EA Sports’ rankings of Faulk can’t really be construed as a perfect reflection of his abilities, but it is most certainly a vote of confidence for an Auburn team that has struggled with defensive recruiting this offseason.

Perhaps Coach Freeze has the defensive pieces he wants– EA certainly concurs.

EA College Football ‘26 will be available to consumers on July 10, with Deluxe Edition or MVP Bundle purchasers gaining access on July 7.

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